


Like The Beginning

by LaLainaJ



Series: Make Some Noise [42]
Category: The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Based on a Tumblr Post, Caroline Doesn't Really Mind, F/M, Klaus Is Sneaky, New Year's Eve, Texting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-05
Updated: 2016-01-05
Packaged: 2018-05-12 00:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5646853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaLainaJ/pseuds/LaLainaJ
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Klaus walks into his home, early on New Year's Day 2016, to see the remains of one of Rebekah's tantrums. He intercepts a text exchange, and he's surprised to know that his sister's been in contact with Caroline. But he takes it as a loophole, to a promise he'd once made, and makes a call.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like The Beginning

**Like The Beginning**

**(Inspired by a Tumblr post of New Year's wishes one of which was, "Also, I hope you get astonishing dick in 2016." Title from 'Barely Legal' by The Strokes. Rated T).**

Klaus comes home to chaos, in the wee hours of January 1st.

The front door's barely clinging to its hinges, there's a gaping hole in the wall of the entryway. And the 18th century maple table that had once been there, is now useless, a pile of splintered wood and dust on the floor.

He'd think they were under attack, but word of Bekah's rampage, of her latest paramour's misstep, had quickly spread throughout the quarter.

Poor fellow's missing a heart, and from what Klaus had seen, it had been _messy_.

Rebekah had, of course, left the bar and stormed home, leaving the clean-up and compulsion of the horrified tourists who'd witnessed her little fit to Marcel and his day walkers. Klaus had stopped by to ensure that everything had gone smoothly, before heading home.

New Year's Eve, new beginnings, didn't mean much after centuries.

He wanders into the house, absently noting the rest of the damages, makes a mental note to send for someone to begin repairs tomorrow.

A tragically common occurrence, with all of his siblings in residence.

He finds Rebekah in the living room, sprawled across the couch, a college aged boy with a bloody neck slumped at an unhealthy angle over the coffee table.

She pays no mind to the remains of her meal, furiously typing into her phone, one hand still stained red to the wrist, shoes discarded and hair disheveled. There's a bottle of very expensive bourbon stuffed into the space between the cushions next to her. She sees him when she reaches for it, and her eyes narrow, as she takes a healthy swig.

"Oh, it's you. So nice to see you, Nik. Don't worry, brother dearest. You won't have to kill this one. I did it myself."

"I heard," Klaus returns easily, snatching the bottle from her grasp. He pours a glass, like a civilized person.

"You heard?" she parrots, "Lovely. Of course. Please get your gloating over with. I'd like to go to bed soon."

"I'll not gloat, sweetheart," Klaus informs her. Magnanimously, in his opinion, while taking a seat in an armchair next to the sofa. "The satisfaction of being right, is more than enough for me."

Rebekah snorts, and opens her mouth, likely to refute that particular assertion. She's plenty of evidence, Klaus knows, to back up a claim that he does rather enjoy a good spell of gloating. Particularly about Rebekah's continued ineptness in selecting romantic partners. But the phone in her hand buzzes, several times in quick succession, drawing her attention from him.

Her face changes quickly, from surprise to annoyance to disgust, until she finally mutters, "Ugh, so crass," tossing her phone aside, and standing from the couch, stalking in the direction of the kitchen.

Curiosity peaked, Klaus reaches out and grabs the phone from midair, before it can land, and he almost chokes on the liquor in his mouth, when his eyes run over the texts.

**Caroline Forbes [THURSDAY 2:46 AM]:**

_Wow, random. Good to hear from you. Not._

**Caroline Forbes [THURSDAY 2:47 AM]:**

_My life is the exact amount of pointless and pathetic that I enjoy, thank you for asking._

**Caroline Forbes [THURSDAY 2:48 AM]:**

_Happy New Year to you too, Rebekah._

**Caroline Forbes [THURSDAY 2:48 AM]:**

_Also, I hope you get astonishing dick in 2016._

**Caroline Forbes [THURSDAY 2:48 AM]:**

_Because you clearly need it._

He's tempted to laugh, but knows his sister won't appreciate it. And it would be awfully inconvenient if she tore the house down altogether.

Rebekah, likely registering the lack of a crash, indicating her phone had broken into pieces, due to her careless treatment, glances over her shoulder. She freezes, when she notices it's in his grasp.

Klaus raises a brow, "Since when are you in contact with Caroline Forbes?" he asks. It's deceptively casual, but a quick flicker of guilt flashes over Rebekah's features, before they become carefully blank.

"She called me a few months ago," Rebekah tells him airily. "Needed a favor. It's not as though we're suddenly besties, Nik."

Klaus hasn't the faintest idea of what Caroline could have possibly needed from Rebekah, and it he's entirely honest it stings a bit that she'd not reached out to him.

"What favor?" he asks evenly, "and did you oblige her?"

"I did," Rebekah answers. "No need for you to search out a dagger. It wasn't for her, not really, but a mutual friend."

"What friend?" Klaus presses, well aware of Rebekah's lack. "And again, Bekah, _what_ favor?"

Rebekah crosses her arms, a mulish set to her mouth, "Matt. And it's really none of _your_ business."

"Did she ask you not to tell me?"

"Oh, would that be acceptable, then? Of course," she bites out snidely.

"Bekah," Klaus grits out warningly.

She huffs, throws up her hands, and stomps over. She reaches for her phone, but Klaus is faster, is out of the chair with the device safely behind his back before her fingers even graze it. "Ugh, fine. As per usual, the idiots in Mystic Falls got into a spot of trouble. Matt got hurt, almost died. Caroline wanted to arrange for him to get out of Mystic Falls, asked for my help in putting together something he'd not question, that was too good to pass up. So I did. And no, she didn't say anything about keeping it a secret from you."

Klaus hums in acknowledgement, mind turning over the information. He's not pleased that Caroline's still hurling herself into fires for her useless friends, and he understands why she'd called Bekah, for this particular request. Klaus' interest in ensuring Matt Donovan lead a full human life is nonexistent.

Rebekah holds out her hand expectantly, her foot beginning to tap.

Klaus shakes his head, "I think I'll keep it, at least until you're in a more fit state. Can't have you antagonizing more of our old friends, hmm?"

Rebekah rolls her eyes, "You're so transparent, Niklaus," she tells him disdainfully, before whirling and stomping out of the room. Klaus hears her rummaging through the freezer, and some of the cupboards, before she makes her way upstairs, her door slamming loudly behind her.

He's been tapping the screen periodically, and as soon as Bekah's locked herself away he flips to her contacts, connecting a call for Caroline.

He's going to consider her contacting his sister to be a loophole, her not attempting to hide it a subtle bit of encouragement. And since he's safely within the borders of New Orleans, he's not breaking any promises, is he?

He's presumed more, on flimsier pretenses, in the past.

Caroline picks up after a few rings, sounding both annoyed and mildly intoxicated, "Seriously, Rebekah? Berating me, and my life choices, via text wasn't enough? You just have to do it over the phone, too? I have it on good authority that New Orleans is supposed to be exciting. Go find something to do."

"I'm 'good authority' now?" Klaus says, when she pauses for a breath. "I'm touched. How very far I've come in your esteem."

Caroline groans, though Klaus thinks she sounds at least somewhat amused. She doesn't hang up, and he counts that as a win. "Klaus. Of course it's you."

"It is. Though not in the flesh, so I do believe I should be safe from your wrath."

"You lasted a few years," Caroline observes. "I'm kinda impressed."

"I'd have held out for longer, but the news that you've apparently struck up a friendship with my sister could not be borne, love. I'm _far_ more interesting."

Caroline makes a noise of disgust, "First of all ew, no. Rebekah and I will never be friends. She's a nightmare, FYI. Second of all, pretty sure you'd have to be more interesting, since she's spent good chunks of the last 1000 years out of it, with a dagger in her chest."

Klaus ignores the mild accusation, "No, I'm quite sure I've always been more interesting."

Caroline lets out a soft laugh, "I'll keep that in mind."

"Do," Klaus advises, before easing in to what he really wants to know. "How are you, Caroline?"

"I'm…" she pauses, for a long time. And when she continues, there's a thread of resignation weighing her down that Klaus finds he does not like, "I'm the same as I've always been."

"Just like you wanted, then," he notes, striving for neutrality. Because he firmly believes that her wants were far too small, would make her miserable, in the end.

Caroline lets out a sigh, mumbles an unenthusiastic agreement to his words. "What about you?" she asks, forcing cheerfulness as she changes the subject, "How's life in New Orleans?"

Rather mundane, if Klaus is being entirely honest. The challenge of taking it back had called to him, but he finds the day to day management of it tedious, finds that dealing with the squabbling factions, often so petty and childish, wears on him.

"I've been thinking of leaving, for a bit," he confesses. "Maybe revisiting some of my old haunts."

"Paris, Rome, Tokyo?" she teases gently.

"Perhaps."

It's incredibly satisfying, that she remembers his words, years after they'd been spoken. Almost as if she'd thought of them, turned them over in her head, like he had with so many of the moments they'd shared. Reluctantly, at first, but he'd come to enjoy the urge, stopped fighting it, in time.

And she's still there, still breathing softly, on the line hundreds of kilometers away. It's more then he'd expected, when he'd impulsively made this call. Klaus decides to venture a little more, "My offer to you does, of course, still stand," he tells her.

She doesn't reject him outright, but the sharpness of her next inhale tells Klaus that he's surprised her.

Does she think he'd moved on? Does she think he'd not known the weight of his words, known what it meant when he'd said he'd seen her in his life? Understandable, because she's so very young.

But he's not. And he's not one to change his mind, once it's set upon a course.

Caroline's next words, little more than a quiet contemplative murmur, are perhaps some of the most shocking of his very long life.

" _I'll think about it."_


End file.
